The kurinji flowers of Nilgiri hills in Tamil Nadu

When a Toda tribal says he has seen three kurinji seasons, it means he is over 36 years old.

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K. Shetty

December 21, 2012

ISSUE DATE: December 31, 1992

UPDATED: July 26, 2013 16:28 IST

Kurinji blossoms on Nilgiri slopes

When a Toda tribal says he has seen three kurinji seasons, it means he is over 36 years old.

The kurinji (strobilanthes acanthaceae) is a deep mauve flower that blossoms only once in 12 years at an altitude of over 2,500 m on the Nilgiri hills in Tamil Nadu.

This September, the nondescript-looking bushes sent out a profusion of buds. By October the flowers had bloomed. Right now, the slopes are covered with a spectacular carpet of pale purple blossoms.

The 12-year cycle is disputed by many botanists who maintain that it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cycle because no records have been kept.

"The cycle may have something to do with the sun, though it still remains one of nature's mysteries," says O.T. Ravindran, a Madras-based botanist. However, botanists believe the changes in weather patterns and the encroachment of plantations into its natural habitat have to some extent disturbed the kurinji's flowering cycle.

"Once, the kurinji bloomed all over the hills", says B.J. Krishnan, founder of the Save Nilgiris Campaign. Today, it is crowded into an area of less than 100 acres on the slopes of the Eastern and the Western ghats.

National recognition of its vulnerability is finally under way with the Union Postal Department planning to release a stamp on the flower next month.

Environmentalists are now demanding that the hills where the kurinji blooms be declared a national sanctuary. If it's not, come 2004 - and the flower may never peep out again.

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